Unexpected Convergence in Researching Game History

Last night, I was continuing my quest for more information about Stephen Sondheim's Halloween Hunt from 1968. A certain Los Angeles Times article quoted in one of his biographies was my goal. At the same time in a separate window, I was reading Larry's entry on a death during a Russian urban hunt. He linked to Pervasive Games as a source. In the original window, I typed in the keywords I was looking for. The first link to come up was, disappointingly, my own blog. But the second link was from Pervasive Games!

Funny coincidence, right? Okay, sure, but the link I pull up is about how The Last of Sheila inspired Don Luskin's Games which inspired Midnight Madness. Hmmmmm...sounds vaguely familiar, almost like I wrote it myself. But it turns out that the people at Pervasive Games wrote a book and had been doing the same research I had at pretty much the same time, getting the Los Angeles Times newspaper clippings from Luskin close to when I got them from Patrick Carlyle. Talk about coincidence.


An idle thought in the back of my mind has been that beyond satisfying my own curiosity, perhaps I could put what research I uncovered into book form. But it looks like the folks at Pervasive Games have already done that, saving me a lot of time, travel, and tests of my limited interviewing abilities.

Midnight Madness Deja Vu

I got a strange case of deja vu while picking up my daughter from pre-school yesterday...

The Worst Navigators (i.e. us)

I don't know what it is, but our team seems to have extreme fail when it comes to navigation between clue sites in the Game. This became painfully clear during the Ghost Patrol playtest when, on more than one occasion, we left clue sites before other teams and arrived at the next one after them. In one specific incident, the next site was five minutes away and it took us over twenty minutes to get there.

Obviously, we'd like to solve this problem. We thought that springing for GPS when renting a van would help, but it has its own share of difficulties. For example, we got stuck on a Stanford street that someone had decided to put poles in the middle of during Midnight Madness and just recently it thought we were on a freeway just because we were driving alongside it.

(Shinteki Eric also brought his GPS unit for the GP playtest, so on more than one occasion, we had Eddie Izzard telling us to go right, while the standard GPS voice said left.)

Parking is part of the problem, too, especially during the Ghost Patrol playtest. Why? Well, we had been expecting our six player team plus a member of GC to ride along and so figured a mini-van would be too cramped. The next largest size that we could locate, oddly enough, was a 15-seat passenger van. Finding parking with a van that size is a challenge in its own right, especially if the garage has a low ceiling.

(It turned out we would have been fine with a mini-van: One of our members injured her back and couldn't make it, while another decided that there was enough time to attend a kegger in San Diego the night before the playtest.)

I'm really not sure how to improve our navigation. Having a teammate more familiar with the Bay Area? I basically only know Santa Rosa and the freeways to get to airports. Letting teammates out to pick up puzzles at clue sites instead of driving around for five or ten minutes looking for parking? Hiring a chauffeur?

The only plausible thing I can think of is instead of piling into the van and heading out after the solve (something we did once in No More Secrets before even getting our next site location), we should take a few minutes and have a clear idea of where we're going, maybe even on a physical map. I don't know, but this problem is definitely keeping us from being competitive.

Larry's Smokin' Writeup

When Larry Hosken put out that he'd was looking for a team to be an embedded reporter for in Midnight Madness: Back to Basics, we thought it'd be a great idea to have him join us. Assuming he'd forgiven us for thoroughly foiling him in BANG 17, it would be interesting to have a more experienced player with us and also see what our playing style (if it is such a thing) would look like through an outsider's eyes.

His report is now available for perusal. It was really a lot of fun having Larry with us and I think he downplays how valuable a part he played on our team. Regardless, a good time was had by all and I hope those who read enjoy as well.

Back to Basics Advertising

During Midnight Madness, one clue was located in "The Metro" newspaper. Between picking up the current issue and finding the clue hidden inside, I speculated that perhaps GC had placed an ad that we would have to find and solve and how cool that would be.

Today, I was looking up advertising rates for the Bohemian and found out it was part of The Metro. After seeing how much it would have been place an ad of sufficient size to house the word search puzzle, I'm glad they didn't go that way.

Workin' on my Superpowers

It can be pretty hard to hear Don Luskin when he's talking atop a Stanford parking structure with the wind is blowing and the conversation of a hundred or so other people going on around. The obvious solution is to somehow get my ears nearer to the speaker without actually moving my body. My attempt was captured in the background of one of Larry's photos. Egads! I had no idea my neck could stretch that far! It's like I'm a much homlier version of Professor Impossible, only without the cool costume or Stephen Colbert's amazing voice.

Proving A Preclue's Existence

Not to long ago, I speculated that there was a preclue in the slide show from the Captain's Meeting for Midnight Madness: Back to Basics, but could not find it.

The interesting news is that there was a preclue in the slide show. The bad news is that it was impossible for me to have found.

Jonathan sent me a teasing email last night saying that once he knew there was a preclue (from a comment on Jan's summary), he was able to find it within a minute. With only that, I scoured the presentation and came up empty (although I did note how G, C, and T were used an awful lot as capital letters).

It turns out on the final slide, the one of the movie poster, there were three objects: Binoculars, a Monopoly board, and an almanac. However, they were behind the poster. If they had been in front of the poster, it might have looked like this:



Unfortunately, there was no way (that I can tell anyway) to find those images using the standard PowerPoint Viewer, as recommended on Snout's MM website. Only by using the PowerPoint editor and moving aside the poster could this be revealed. I guess from Dan Egnor's comment that one team did just that.

Midnight Madness Appreciation

Photos and video are up, my sleep cycle has been restored, and the house is nearly back in order. Thus, I have a moment to thank Snout and Drunken Spiders for providing us with a unique and challenging life experience that we'll never forget. Kudos to them for all their hard work, planning, time, and expense.

I only just met Curtis and DeeAnn at the Captain's Meeting and again at the wrapup party. It's kind of sad to see them leave already - was it something I said? - but I wish them best of luck in their future endeavors in Oregon.

As for The Smoking GNU, we had a blast with Larry on our team. It seemed within five minutes of picking him up that he had always been part of the team and always would be. He seemed to be able to put up with us, so hopefully we didn't scar him too much.

We were the ninth team to arrive at the Community Center, but I'm not sure that means anything, apart from the fact that we got to eat breakfast before eleven other teams. We were the last team to leave a few sites and got skipped over three and a half clues... to be fair, though, we were told two of those were compromised (Acorn ran several blocks to catch our van to let us know about one of those), one was automatic for nearly all teams once the first team solved it, and we had only just entered Pinball City when the message went out to go to Standford.

Overall, a good time, lots of good memories, and fun experiences to tell my family. Many thanks!

Midnight Madness Photos

Pictures I snapped during Midnight Madness: Back to Basics are up for viewing. It was impressive how accurate of a movie experience GC was able to give us:



One thing I regret, though, is that I forgot to get a picture of our us all together in our new team shirts, especially the one we forced Larry to wear.

Midnight Madness: The Music Video

Snout and Drunken Spiders started off their Game with a rousing rendition of the theme song of the film the Game was based on. I quickly shot my borrowed camera into the air because I wasn't sure if the thirty other video cameras were recording it right...

Captain's Meeting - Part 2

Curtis Chen stood up and was taken by the GC women to the front, given a curly wig, and a "Game Master" t-shirt, but soon found out they couldn't go on in that order. Sitting next to Curtis had been a member of Drunken Spiders. Apparently, his team was part of this too, as he got his own GC shirt. (I apologize for lack of names; I have a hard time remembering the names of people I know, let alone those I see across a crowded table.) The only thought going through my mind was "It all makes sense now!" I had wondered why out of all the people that had received invites, only Curtis had blogged so openly about it. "I hope he's not pissing GC off," I had thought. Silly me. :)

Curtis continued with the slide show, giving us the information we needed. I was hastily scribbling down notes. We all laughed as a slide explaining the basics: Start -> Clue -> Solve -> Location etc. More slides. With the help of Number Five (hmmmm, another 5, I just now notice), we were introduced to the idea that when the lead team solved the next-to-last clue, all teams would be notified by text message and given the option of continuing to solve or to jump ahead to the final clue.

We got shown the ending time, treated to a "OMG!!! Ponies! YA RLY :) :P" introduction of how text messages work, shown a map of the Game's area (Silicon Valley pretty much), and finally, shown the starting time and location. There were red fives and a red "S" in this last one, and "preclue" was triggered in my brain, but was put off as I jotted everything down.

Question time. Where white scooters required? (No.) Could we bring a supercompter in the van that could solve clues without teams having to worry their little brain cells? (No, but laptops were optional.) And most importantly, were marshmellows legal?

I ended up asking Curtis if there was any specific team size, and immediately felt kind of silly doing so. I had assumed four, but wanted to be sure. His reply was that while there was no specific team size, the movie's teams were four, which sounded pretty definitive to me, but leaves open the option of picking up Michael J. Fox along the way.

Then it was wrapped up with a slide of the poster for Midnight Madness. At some point, though, some of the missing team captains had come in and so the entire slide show was shown again. About halfway through, I heard someone take a picture and then it dawned on me (and a few others I think) that it'd be a lot easier to take pictures of the slides than to try and write everything down.

After that, small, green pieces of paper exchanged hands, but nobody was unhappy about it pretty much of the time. In NetMeeting's lobby, Curtis took down contact info and everyone else chatted. This was pretty much the first time I got to converse with other puzzlers and I really enjoyed getting to know people that I've read about or played along side.

Talking with these captains evoked a feeling I'd felt just a few months earlier. After finishing MSPH 11, I had joined the team I played on for dinner. It was pretty cool talking with them, since they felt like my type of people, as they had similar interests, points of reference, and I never felt the need to conceal parts of my personality. I felt the same way in the conversations at the Captain's Meeting.

So Curtis found out that he was partly responsible for us getting involved in this community (he helped create the Da Vinci Code online hunt), I found out how XX-Rated unded up with an all-female cast, and everyone found out about the large amount of teams on the waiting list for Justin and team's mini-hunt. Eventually, it was decided to disperse, though several of us re-gathered in front the building to talk about more subjects, such as Rich's experiences in the Ravenchase hunt and how much Jackpot cost. It was very reminicent of Game Nights fifteen years ago, when we'd end at midnight but then talk for another hour outside in the parking area.

Finally, it was time for all to go, but not before a final question as to who had the longest drive home, which was an easy "win" for me, as I was heading back to Santa Rosa.

Thank goodness for audiobooks.

Another Puzzle Hunt Comes to Santa Rosa

Today, a friend of mine asks if I'm involved in developing the "Santa Rosa Puzzle Hunt" for the city (I'm not). While I'm all for more puzzle activities, I get the feeling someone's stealing our hunt's name!

Nearly two years ago, Jonathan and I hosted a small puzzle hunt and called it the Santa Rosa Puzzle Hunt, due mostly to its location. I've been working on a second one, but sadly so far it's a solo project, and thus on the back burner.

This "official" puzzle hunt taking place in downtown Santa Rosa is on April 5 from 11:00am - 4:30pm. No cost for entry, cash prizes, sponsored event, etc. Might be fun and we might even participate, though we'd probably have to leave early to make it in time for the beginning of Midnight Madness: Back to Basics.

Disproving a Preclue's Existence

It's not possible of course. I wouldn't even be looking for one, since this Midnight Madness is Back to Basics, which I could easily take to mean no website, no preclues, etc. Only two things have kept me looking: William Howard Taft and the red number 5. In the presentation by Snout and Drunken Spider, those two things caught my attention. I could explain away the red 5s (and S) as an easy way for everyone to remember time, date, and location, but Taft seems a little out of pattern.

I tried to treat it as a preclue and I was surprised when one attempt come up with real words... that don't make much sense together. Meaning it was probably a fluke. I've seen real words come out of puzzles in ways the originators did not intend before.

So either we need to know the the number of days since the last new moon on New Years in 10 CE or we need to bring a stuffed Tigger with us. More than likely, though, I'm thinking too hard.

Captains Meeting - Part 1

Jonathan, captain of The Smoking GNU, decided for some reason that he didn't want to drive the six hours or so to Milpitas last Wednesday to attend the mysterious Captains Meeting for the Midnight Madness: Back to Basics Game. That left it to me, co-captian, co-founder, and Team Wrangler (I'm still working on other titles) to make the journey. I have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to the two hour drive each way myself, but one thing I was sure of was that it'd be worth it.

I had Google Earth-scouted the territory and found that my initial impression that "the roundabout" was not a bar and grill but an actual traffic roundabout. Figuring I might be able to get a hint as to who was the mastermind behind all this, I looked up some of the businesses nearby, thinking there might be a software company I might recognize and/or one with employee(s) who might be likely Game players. Being Silicon Valley, there were several. I even found a dental software company that boasted of the number of Stanford graduates working for them. I was thinking that whoever was hosting might be using their work as the place to hold the meeting.

I gave up my search when I found out that there were two large hotels right there, figuring they could always have rented a room there for the presentation. I ended up being completely wrong about that, but the knowledge was very helpful, as the hotels stood out as great landmarks when my Google directions failed me at a road under construction.

In my mind, I tried to plan how this would go down. My best guess was that all the team captains would assemble at the clearing in the roundabout, talk about who was behind all this, and then like the butler in "Murder By Death", someone would appear to take us all to the actual meeting location, where, like Twain in the same film, the person behind this all would reveal themselves.

When I arrived at the roundabout, therefore, I was a little confused that nobody was there (the two ladies in "Game Control" shirts may have been there, but I had not spotted them). So I parked my car, got organized, and waited a few minutes to see if anyone else arrived. No go on that, so I headed out and met the two ladies. I was surprised to find out that I was on their checklist, since we were a second tier invite. My immediate (and wrong) surmise was that they had a white list of acceptable invitees. I was handed off from Game Control to Game Control until I entered the conference room of NetRatings. Judging by the short silence as I entered the room, I don't think many people were expecting me, someone relatively unknown to them.

Of the ten or so people gathered around the table, sadly, only three or four names popped into my head. I spotted Wei-Hwa immediately, but in all of our three or four previous meetings (apart from the Google Puzzle Hunt), he had asked us the same question: "So is this your first time?" Apparently, GNUs don't always make a lasting impression ;) I don't think anybody knew my name (I'm in very few of the pictures I post from events I've attended). Coed Astronomy might have known me, since we were their invite, and maybe Alexandra (when I talked with her at the GC Summit, she recognized me by sight but not name), but neither had shown up yet. One captain was from a completely new team and dressed to give some (much needed?) variety to the rest of the fashion in the room.

After talking resumed, it was interesting. Speculation abounded as to who was behind it. Discussion centered around 11 teams on the email list (apparently only first tier invites had access), which meant that GC was probably one of the 11 and probably at that very table. On that table, patterns in six-packs of soda were spotted ("It's braille!") until Wei-Hwa smartly decided to compromise the non-clue by removing all the cans from their rings (I still have no idea why Coke cans were mixed in with Hansen). Were the conspirators watching us? A camera was found but apparently was not connected. Then someone spotted a MacBook with its built-in webcam (I think I overheard someone from GC admit later that they were watching us).

Not too long after the MacBook discovery, someone came in and started the slideshow. I had had my second viewing of Midnight Madness the day before, so it was pretty familiar, though with pictures of what I assume were pics from past Games during the "old games" part of the speech - I had never seen them before and the only one I remember was of a human pyramid - followed inexplicably by a picture of William Howard Taft which I had only previously seen on Get On A Raft With Taft's now defunct website. I'm still not sure as to the meaning or implications of that. Inside joke, I'm guessing.



At this point, the slideshow told the real GC to stand up. And he did.

It was Curtis Chen.

Of Snout.

Sweet.

Long Distance Puzzle Affairs

I have two puzzle-related trips to make to the South Bay this week, thanks to, at minimum, three teams (Coed Astronomy, Just Passing Through, and one team who, for the moment, shall remain nameless - mostly because I don't yet know their name), both of which I'm looking forward to. The main drawback, of course, is living in Santa Rosa: Wednesday night represents four hours of driving and Friday night would take about 3.5 (I may work out a way to split up the Friday trip - weekend visit to my brother or something).

With gas prices the way they are, every trip south of the bridges makes me wish even more that SMART had made progress. It still seems so odd that Marin, stereotyped as being more liberal and environmental than Sonoma County (although Santa Rosa did end up as #23 of most "green" cities in Popular Mechanics), was unable to pass the go-ahead measure. It's almost as if given the choice between helping the environment and keeping property values up, they went with the more selfish choice. Probably not the case but sometimes it just seems that way.

Midnight Cartoon Madness

So I'm just sitting here with Robot Chicken playing in the background, when all of the sudden, in a Cheers-like fashion, a bunch of voices shout "Leon!" and a scruffy looking geek in glasses comes up to the screen. "Hmmmmm," thought I, "that seems an awful lot like..."

And it was.

I have no idea why Seth Green et al would make such a passing reference to a film that very few have seen, let alone heard of. Heck, when I first saw that episode a few years ago, I never thought it was a reference to Michael J. Fox's first film that would create an entire underground culture dedicated to the purpose it setforth.

I wonder if they like LARF...